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Sunday, February 17, 2013

postheadericon Exclusive: BlackBerry's Thorsten Heins: 'the stars have lined up'

on a snowy day in Waterloo, Ontario, residents and local businesses show visible support of the smartphone business in difficulty and new products vital

Market day in the small Canadian town of Waterloo, Ontario, snow-covered parking, and horse-drawn buggies pull up next to pills. Founded two centuries ago in the meadow between the Great Lakes, Waterloo is the manufacturer of BlackBerry, Smartphone world, 500 technology companies and an institute for quantum computing, but was settled by German Mennonites, a religious sect who reject inventions of the age of the machine.

working the land, livestock and development kitchens hardwood stable for many millionaires local technological Mennonites and its people have thrived on the success of BlackBerry. But it depends on the future of the community, prosperity of the efforts of a German immigrant latest BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins. Appointed 13 months ago, its mission is to stop the decline of a company whose value has dropped from a peak of $ 80 billion (EUR 51 billion) in 2008 to $ 7.5 billion this year.

"A year ago I felt the world was in disarray," said Heins. "Now all the stars have aligned in reality." Wear a blue shirt emblazoned with the company logo, your phone in a belt holster, Heins organizes a tour building BlackBerry seat 22.

two weeks ago after the sensational event in New York, in the presence of BlackBerry new artistic director, musician Alicia Keys, and sent to the press conference in seven cities that gave Heins company published its first true Internet phone, the Z10, and the operating system that runs BB10.

return home, the streets are filled with messages of support. "Proud to be powered by BlackBerry," reads the sign outside the VW dealership. There are discounts for customers burgers with the right phone and BlackBerry use Starbucks baristas shirts. With 7,000 employees in Waterloo alone, each finger is crossed by the company.

BB10

took two years and 15 acquisitions to build, at a time when the company was then known as Research in Motion (RIM) has been the biggest shock of your story. In January last year, took a tumble: Apple and Google stole its crown, with phones that were almost as powerful as laptops. RIM had not taken part in the latest wave of revolution in personal computing, spending years since the arrival of 2007 phones iPhone push e-mail in emerging markets, rather than to improve the technology and its products Top sales was exceeded.

A revolt

investors wrested control of founder Mike Lazaridis and co-CEO Jim Balsillie. Heins took place and began to reduce the cost, time, he announced layoffs 5000. He hired two Wall Street banks to seek potential buyers, and announced the first loss of the company in eight years. But redoubled efforts Heins largest project the company -. Building BB10

Europeans brought as his lieutenants are optimistic, of course. "We want to regain our position as world number one," said Kristian Tear, the Chief Operating Officer of Sony coming Swedish. "This could be the greatest comeback in the history of technology," said Frank Boulben marketing before Orange. "Mobile network operators [] are behind us. They do not want a duopoly ".

Among them, Google - Android, whose software is used by Samsung, HTC and others - and Apple accounted for 85% of phones shipped last year, according to research firm Gartner . BlackBerry share fell to 5%. Few software companies survive more than a change of operating system, BlackBerry and while jumping from pagers to cell production at the end of 1990, the world is not convinced that the same success this time. Balsillie, Mike Lazaridis, unlike no longer holds a seat on the board of directors, has filed documents revealed last week that it had sold all its shares in the company.

"I took this job because I love you not only restructuring," said Heins. "I did it because I liked the heart of innovation I saw at RIM." Many advised him to jump on the bandwagon Android, or follow the example of Nokia adopting financial incentives for Microsoft to use its Windows Phone. Instead, he decided to follow in the footsteps of Mike Lazaridis, who in 2010 had bought a Canadian company, QNX, with the intention to use its technology as the cornerstone of a new generation of phones.

And if the company decided to use its own resources. Graphic designers were inspired by the clean lines of the Farnsworth House, a modernist gem, near Chicago, designed by architect Mies van der Rohe. Canadian Police was created by Rod McDonald, who specializes in luminous letters for the visually impaired. And engineers have found a way to see more than one application at the same time - for example calendar and e-mail -. An enigma Android and Apple have not resolved

device success, if it comes, do not owe much to Alec Saunders, a former Microsoft employee and the University of Waterloo graduate who led the battle to convince the BlackBerry developers to create applications as well as BB10 possible before release. He joined in August 2011, in the middle of the period known internally as "El Loco", and in 2500 the same day the team came loose.



His first task was to dismantle some of the "totally irrational, almost Monty Python-esque" ways of working with external developers had company - contracts that 144 pages of small businesses can not digest. Saunders has been proposed to be a friend of the developers to be as open as possible. thousands of free phone prototypes were delivered last summer, BB10 development schedule has been released, and 44 "BlackBerry Jam "shindigs for developers have been conducted in 33 countries.
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